It’s summer so naturally I’m eating a lot of caprese salads. I love having a little basil plant in my kitchen in the summer, they are pretty to look at and the smell is insanely good. That said, my craving for pizza never let’s up no matter the season, so I decided to combine the two to create this awesome summer pizza.
Domestocrat’s Caprese Salad Pizza
For the pizza dough: (makes 2-3 pizza crusts)
2.75 cups bread flour (I use King Arthur’s Sir Lancelot high gluten flour)
2.5 tsp. (or 1 packet) active dry yeast (I use SAF Red Instant Yeast)
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup warm water
For rolling out the dough: 2-3 tbsp. coarse cornmeal
For the toppings:
1/2 pint rainbow cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella balls
7-10 basil leaves
1 tsp. pizza seasoning (I use King Arthur’s Pizza Seasoning)
Marinara sauce or olive oil, whatever you prefer
In a stand mixer outfitted with the dough hook, combine all of the dough ingredients and mix together for 3-5 minutes. If you don’t have a stand mixer doing this the old fashioned way with lots of kneading works too. Knead by hand for 1-2 minutes and then store the dough in a big bowl covered in plastic wrap in a warm spot for at least an hour. You’re looking for the dough to double in size.
While the dough is proofing, prep the pizza toppings: slice the tomatoes, cut up the mozzarella, grate the parm, and chiffonade the basil.
When the dough is ready, sprinkle the cornmeal on your work surface and roll out to your desired shape. Top with marinara sauce or olive oil for the base (whichever you prefer) and then load on the toppings! You can add the basil before or after baking – I add it before because I find it mellows in the oven and I prefer that on pizza.
I top the whole thing with King Arthur’s Pizza Seasoning but italian seasoning paired with crushed red pepper flake and salt and pepper do the job too. One additional note: this dough recipe will yield enough dough for 2-3 pies – this pizza uses 1/3 of the dough and I put the remaining 2/3 in a ziptop storage bag in the freezer for a later time (just thaw in the fridge that day before you want to use it).
Bake the pizza at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
Cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Then dig in to this perfect pizza: cheesy, rich with delicious summer tomatoes, and studded with sweet basil. So good, I guarantee you’ll make this over and over.
Domestocrat 
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